1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to a system and method for communicating concurrently in a plurality of wireless environments using a single device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for using a single Wi-Fi device to concurrently communicate in a wireless LAN environment and a wireless PAN environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wi-Fi technology is rapidly being adapted for use in wireless local area networks (WLAN's). A wireless LAN is one in which a mobile user connects to a local area network (LAN) through a wireless connection. Wi-Fi technology is gaining acceptance in consumer and commercial markets as an alternative to a wired LAN due to its excellent interoperability and commodity pricing. Wi-Fi is specified in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification (including additions and changes specified in 802.11a, 802.11b, etc). Wi-Fi specifies an Ethernet-like protocol which uses CSMA/CA (carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance) for channel sharing. Wi-Fi technology currently operates in the 2.4 GHz ISM frequency band or the 5 GHz U-NII frequency band and offers data rates up to 54 Mbps.
Another standard, Bluetooth, revolves around a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Bluetooth is the most common WPAN technology and was used as the basis for the IEEE 802.15.1 standard. A wireless personal area network (WPAN) is used to wirelessly interconnect devices centered on an individual person through a point-to-point or peer-to-peer connection. Typically, a wireless personal area network uses technology that permits communication within a very short range, such as ten meters. A WPAN may serve to interconnect ordinary computing and communicating devices that many people carry with them today. A challenge found, however, is that many peripheral devices, such as printers and handheld devices, are required to support both WLAN interoperability for infrastructure network communication as well as WPAN interoperability for point-to-point communication.
Wi-Fi technology could replace Bluetooth technology as a technology to support WPAN environments, all the while providing lower system cost, higher bandwidth, and better interoperability. A challenge found, however, is that existing Wi-Fi technology does not allow a single device to simultaneously or concurrently support both infrastructure and peer-to-peer environments. In order to support simultaneous infrastructure and peer-to-peer environments using Wi-Fi technology, two Wi-Fi devices are required, one for each environment, thereby increasing a computer system's equipment cost.
What is needed, therefore, is a system and method to support concurrent infrastructure and peer-to-peer environments using a single Wi-Fi device.